National Hurricane Center: Fred will likely strengthen as it nears Florida Keys, another system to become Tropical Storm Grace

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Tropical Depression Fred has slowed down and will likely start strengthening later Friday.

The National Hurricane Center said Fred had winds at 35 mph as of 11 a.m. Tropical Storm Warnings continue for the Keys and Watch for Fort Myers and Naples.

As of Friday morning, Fred remained poorly organized after being weakened by its move over Hispaniola.

However, the storm is now sitting over warm Caribbean water. That is expected to allow Fred to strengthen back into a tropical storm sometime Friday.

Fred will continue northwest toward the Florida Keys, where it is expected to arrive Saturday. The storm will then track up the west coast of Florida until it slams into the Florida Panhandle early Monday morning and then tracks into Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee into the middle of next week.

Tropical storm conditions are expected this weekend in southern Florida; all residents should prepare for heavy rain and possible flooding.

A second system is strengthening out in the Atlantic Ocean. It is expected to become Tropical Storm Grace Friday night into Saturday morning.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for the Leeward Islands in eastern Caribbean.

It is forecast to stay as a tropical storm this weekend and into next week as it passes over Puerto Rico and D.R.

By the middle of next week, what will be Grace, will approach northern Bahamas and southern Florida, at this time it does not look like it will be a strong storm, but this could change as this is too far away for accurate forecast.

Some long range models in the next 10 days track it toward the Carolinas as a stronger tropical system.

2021 Hurricane Season

Fred is first named storm in five weeks. Our last named storm was Elsa, which became a hurricane July 2. Elsa made landfall in Florida on July 5 and headed north through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina before heading north along the East Coast.
Elsa was the earliest fifth-named storm ever, breaking the record set the year before in what became the most active hurricane season ever. However, since Elsa, there has been little to no tropical development.

Still the busiest part of the hurricane season remains ahead of us. Last week, the NOAA said the hurricane season “shows no signs of slowing,” and even updated its prediction from 13-20 named storms to 15-21.